Hayabusa 2 is an asteroid sample return mission operated by the Japanese space agency, JAXA. It follows on from Hayabusa and addresses weak points learned from that mission.

The target is asteroid (162173) 1999 JU3. Hayabusa 2 is expected to arrive at the target in July 2018, survey the asteroid for a year and a half, depart in December 2019, and return to Earth in December 2020.

The sixth Asia/Oceania Meteorological Satellite Users’ Conference will be held in Tokyo, Japan to further enhance exchanges on application techniques among satellite data users, to advance satellite observation technologies, and to promote synergetic development related to meteorological satellites. The event follows on from the successful first round of conferences hosted by China, Japan, Korea and Australia and the beginning of the second round in China last year.